Refer him here, unlike YouTube IFI under goes constant peer revue. Many of our members post to you tube so we can refer him to good vidioes as well.
Pick up a hammer, a little sibling rivalry is good, wee have a few lady smiths, and some consistently show up their husbands. Seeing a sister show up her brother would make my heat sing

Their is a reason feedlots include antibiotics in the ration, corn fed beef get sick after about 90 days otherwise. Rumisin might be billed as a “digestive aid” but it is a strong antibiotic.
truth is we were all raised on the idea that our ancestors lacked basic hygiene and ait rotten meat, truth was they were adept at preserving food (romans preserved eggs in wood ash and the Norse gave us bacon) infact one of the big complaints about the celts and later the rus (Nordic) mercenaries was their insistence on daily bathes being written into their contracts.

Ty! I'm totally lost!! I just posted to the first thing I thought would help. I'm out of my league with this subject. He picked up teaching himself from YouTube and making use of old equipment he had from our great grandpa! It has been an outlet since we lost our Daddy, August will be 4 years ago. He really needs someone that can help him learn how to make equipment fairly inexpensively because he needs a new forge and the options are overwhelming and numerous!
I appreciate the help!!! Thank y'all for not killing me considering I have no knowledge beyond what I have read! And I'm no help because I lack common sense meaning. ... I could write the tech manual to build a car but couldn't drive one!!

Isnt that how we get clean coal?
No seriously though, there was a bunch of dirt, wood, and general debris mixed with that. I used a water bath to slosh out all that would float and the coal being lighter than the rock it settles on top. The larger stuff i picked out dry. Grandpa taught me that trick when i was a wee lad. We had no chute and the coal was left outside and would get all sorts of stuff mixed in with it.

Ok braintrust, here is my dilemma. I made about 30' of interior barrier railing (95% fabricated) out of some very old, rusted, pitted silo hoops I had in my scrap pile for some clients who wanted the most rustic, salvaged look and materials I could find. It was around 200 linear feet of 1/2" and 9/16" material. Silo hoops are both curved to begin with and abused from the deconstruction process, so they needed to be straightened. Doing so was ok if tedious for that amount of material. Trouble is, they liked it so much they changed the design of the other railings in the house and want the same material.
I would love to know any tricks that would make straightening another 700 linear feet of material faster than my process. What I've been doing is 1. cut to rough length. 2. roughly tweak to approximate straight with bending forks in a vise 3. put flat dies in the fly press and work the high spots down. See photos below. Working cold to save time and rust, sorry, I meant patina. Anyone have a better way?

I forged for 15 years in a detached decrepit 1920's small garage, all wood and with old leaves in the corners. It did burn down; but only 3 months after I sold the house and moved ---the new owner wanted a modern large garage and was having difficulties getting planning permission I heard.
With reasonable care wood is not a problem. You could treat it with a fireproofing solution if you were worried.

So, I have a space that is approx 3.25x4 M in length.... this is the space pccupied by a knackered old shed that if I push hard will fall down. SO, its got to be replaced.
So I have been given permission by She Who Must Be Obeyed that I can build what I want and turn it into a little blacksmiths workshop.
The question is, what do I build? I have a bit of cash, so could go for something like this:
Im planning on using my gas forge, so the overhang would be good for putting the forge on so I dont kill myself..
I would be having a concrete floor.
Obviously, the cabin is wood. This does worry me somewhat as obviously Id be bashing hot pieces of metal... I could use some cement board or good old plasterboard (sheetrock) to line the walls...
The alternative is to build a metal shed, which would come in at about half the price, but would be very short, and I would have to faff around making them a bit taller in some way...
What is the consensus on the above sort of building for a small forge workshop?...

I used to run a Davenport 5 spindle screw machine. They use them same brass bushings. The ones we used were removable cause the good Lord knows i had to replace enough of them. They were not however that big.

Sorted out some coal from trash from what i have in the old chute. 2 small buckets worth to try out. I believe it is anthracite. It has a shale like appearance. I have not tried my new ventilation out so that may be a plus seeing as how it burns cleaner and harder to keep lit so any flaws and i wont choke to death at least. I can let it idle out, clear the air and repair any problem areas.
Thought i had about a 100# of coal in the old chute, after this i would say 200# is more like it.

The last time i had them filled 3 20# took about 12 1/2 gal. The bill came out to just about $33. So around $3 a gal, a little less.
A couple places around here charge a flat rate to fill the tanks. $17 for a 20# no matter if it is empty or half full. Needless to say i do not go there. TSC i have found is about the cheapest in this area.
I live in suburbia and i would bet a dollar to a doughnut that i am not allowed to have a residential tank on my property. Heck i am supposed to keep the grill 50' from the house. That is a long walk to flip a burger.

I am a newbie and have been looking at a hammer from Kens Custom Iron. He is only selling a 1.75 lb cross peen at this time. I was thinking a 2 lb might be a nice weight. Does anyone have any experience with one of his hammers?

The best floor is one that does not make your knees sore. some do ok on concrete some do better on dirt. If someone is only forging a few days a week or once a month the floor will become even more important as the body will never have a chance to adapt with so little exposure.
I've been in old shops that the floor is thick wood planking. I was also in a shop that the floor was solidly packed clinker from the forge. Not sure how long it took to get the floor packed in.. Have also been in an old shop that the floor was indeed dirt but it looked like concrete. some will put down a layer of lime and this would harden the surface some.
My knees do best on even ground that is solid. Dirt around the forge area allows for water to be drawn in that is used for cooling the anvil, metal, etc, etc. Easy to re-level also easy to move items around as a person experiments with how they work as the old way to do it is to bury the stump into the ground 3ft or so. Also as a person moves from one type of forging into others experimenting and needing the vise to be closer or further away. (dig a hole throw the chunk of wood in and bury it) vise is now moved.
Today though it can be quite different.
With today's cheap steels and the easy of weld fabrication, there is no limit to what can be welded up, a heavy stand can be made that is both portable and solid all at the same time. Same with anvil stands or what have you.

For me, basically what Thomas said.
My primary use of these holes in the swage block is for doing the heavy hammer work forging the tenon and upsetting the body on hardy tools.
Then doing the final fitting/ shaping of the hardy tool in the hardy hole of the anvil its made for.
This solves the potential breaking of the heel problem on the anvil by doing the heavy hammering in the swage block.

Okay so please some help me.....I feel weird and creepy but it's worth it. If anyone is willing to teach my younger brother he's 37 what you know or just let him have someone to talk to I would appreciate it SO MUCH!!! I talk too much so....I will keep it short and sweet. If you have any questions I don't mind answering any questions. I just feel like the older nosy sister who has posted some ad on Pleasedateme.com for her brother. So please don't make me regrete this....